Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the most popular national parks in the country. There is a ton of options for hiking, from shorter day hikes with great alpine lake views to longer backpacking trips.
One of the most popular and scenic places to spend the day is along the Bear Lake Road Corridor. Here you can explore multiple different day hikes and even link them together to create your own loop trail.
Getting to Bear Lake road
There are a couple ways to get to Rocky Mountain National Park and Bear Lake road. You can rent a car and drive there from Denver or, you can take the more sustainable option and take the hiker shuttle bus to the park and then the shuttles within the park to go from area to area. Be aware that due to the popularity of this destination they have instituted the requirement for reservations and timed entry, even if you are taking the hiker shuttle.
The drive to the park from Denver will take around and hour and a half by car. One route will take you through the cute little mountain town, Estes Park, where you can stop to pick up some lunch and snacks to bring with you on your hike.
What to know before you go
Like I said, the park has now instituted set times for entry, so you will need to get a timed entry permit before you go. And they are extremely strict on this, if you arrive even 5 minutes too early, they will not let you onto bear lake road.
You can get a timed entry permit on reservations.gov and make sure to get bear lake road reservations as part of your permit. These go quickly so buy in advance, especially during peak season. I was there in September and I was able to get timed entry the morning of my trip, but don’t count on that. This was the middle of the week during the shoulder season.
The cost for the timed entry permit is $2 and they require this from late May to early October.
When you arrive they will scan your timed entry permit QR code and give you a paper map. Keep in mind that the Bear Lake Parking area fills up quickly, but there is a large parking lot that is a park and ride with lots of spaces and bathrooms available. You can then take one of the free shuttles to your trailhead. The other hikes along the road have small parking lots with only around 10 spots available, so the park and ride is a great option for those places as well. It’s convenient, sustainable, and the bear lake shuttle, with all it’s stops runs regularly until around 7:30pm.
Hikes along the bear lake road corridor
There are several hikes along the corridor, if you are not wanting to fight the crowds at the Bear Lake Trailhead.
The Bierstadt Lake Trail
Another popular hike that gives nice lake views is the Bierstadt Lake Trail. The shuttle will drop you off at the Bierstadt Lake trailhead (it’s the first stop from the park and ride), where there is a small parking area. The distance is 2 miles one-way and is an out and back. This is considered the easier route to the lake versus coming from the Bear Lake trailhead with less elevation gain.
There are a lot of options to extend your hike. You can start at the Bierstadt Lake trailhead and hike to the lake then carry on to Bear Lake, which then connects to Glacier Gorge through several routes. Many hikes and trails are connected, so you can create your own day.
Hiking from the Glacier Gorge Trailhead to Bear Lake
This is a great hike of approximately 6.5 miles. You will start in the Glacier Gorge parking lot, which is the second stop along the way for the shuttle from the park and ride. The first stop on your hike is Alberta Falls, please stay on the trail, many people were seen crossing the falls and climbing on the rocks. It is a pretty short walk to Alberta Falls, on flat well-maintained trail, but if you wanted to head directly to Bear Lake can do a short walk of about 0.4 miles in length that will take you directly there without doing the full loop.
After Alberta Falls you follow a well maintained trail until you reach a split of three possible directions. On your right hand side is a small, less maintained trail towards Lake Haiyaha. There is some steep uphill, but manageable with less than 1,000 feet of elevation gain towards the split in the trail that goes to the lake or carries on towards Bear Lake.
This portion of the trail becomes well maintained and fairly level again and you will encounter a lot of people along this part of the route, all the way to Bear Lake.
Bear Lake Trail
Heading towards Bear Lake from Lake Haiyaha you will hike by both Dream Lake and Emerald Lake, both of which you can extend your hike and go around, getting some incredible views. From there you will continue to descend towards Bear Lake.
Once you arrive, expect crowds. This is one of the most popular spots in the park. You can hike around Bear Lake on a flat, well maintained trail with various lookout points for spectacular scenic views of Bear Lake.
Concluding Thoughts
This popular high elevation location is the perfect introduction to this park. You can create a great hiking loop using the shuttle service that will give you the opportunity to visit several lakes, waterfalls, and see some of the rugged mountains in the Rocky Mountains.
The Bear Lake loop is an easy, short loop that gives you a little taste of what is out there, but you will experience significant crowds. Other parks, such as Great Smoky Mountain National Park, tend to be a little quieter, but all of the National Parks are an absolute must see for each is unique and special in their own ways.
